The Surviving Flowers of War
by LoA2012
Summary: This is a what I wished would happen after the events in the movie 'The Flowers of War'.
1. Chapter 1

The Surviving Flowers of War

Part 1

"I'm looking for a group of women. I'm looking for the women of Qin Huai River!" John screamed and begged to everyone he passed.

He had gotten the girls to safety. They were all together and living in another Catholic church, a true, proper convent that was away from the war. John stayed with them. The spoke with the nuns and the priest; he told them everything that had happened. They agreed to let him remain as the grounds keeper; so that he could continue to watch over the girl and make sure they stayed safe… as he had vowed to do.

But, now the war was over and he had a promise to keep. John had promised Mo that he would return and find her… and take her home.

"Father John", Shu called to him, "are you leaving us?" All the girls still referred to him as 'Father John'; the priests and the nuns didn't seem to like it, but after everything the girls had been though they didn't scold them for it.

"Just for a little while", John knelt down to the girls' level as the all huddled around him.

"But what will you do?" one of the girl's asked.

"I'm going to find them. I'm going to find George and Mo, and everyone else I can… and then I going to bring them all here and we'll be together. I promise", John gently wiped some of their tears away.

"But it is too dangerous. What if something happens to you?"

"Nothing is going to happen to me. The war is over. I promise, I'll be back as soon as I can", he spoke as honestly as he could to the girls and then started to leave.

"Father John", Shu yelled out to him, "bring back our big sister's… BRING THEM HOME!"

He turned around to the girls and smiled at them. John was so proud of those brave girls and he loved them all as he had loved his own daughter.

"I PROMISE!"

"PLEASE! Has anyone seen a group of women? HAS ANYONE SEEN THE WOMEN OF THE QIN HUAI RIVER?!"

John searched everywhere he could think of, every place he saw on the way back to that city of death.

The first place he went to was the brothel. He thought, if the women were going to go anywhere, they would return there.

"MO! GEORGE! ANYONE!" John almost lost his voice screaming into everyone room of that place… but there was no one.

From there he walked. He trudged through the city.

Somehow or another he found himself in from of the cathedral. That place where he first met George and all the girls and Mo.

The place was a mess.

The front, gate doors were completely gone. The walls were hardly more than rubble. Everything looked charred. And yet, somehow Shu's stain glass window was still there. It had a few more holes and almost more pieces were missing than intact. Yet, it was still there.

John walked through the place.

Past the window…

Past the father's office…

Past the library…

Past the kitchen…

_*CREAK*_

John snapped around at the sound. He took a step back toward the kitchen, hopeful, until his foot stepped back down at the floor board beneath his own foot _creaked_.

"Damn it!" John screamed into the emptiness.


	2. Chapter 2

The Surviving Flowers of War

Part 2

John ran into the kitchen in a rage.

He started throwing whatever he could get his hands on.

Busted pots… _SMASH_

Bits of bottles… _SMASH_

And finally, he flipped over the table… _CRASH_

All he had gone through, all they all had went through, and now he was failing.

John slammed his body on the floor, beating his hands bloody against the wood panels.

He looked down at the now red stained floor, tears welling in his eyes, blurring his vision. And even still, he was able to see that the place he had been hitting was the entrance to the cellar.

It couldn't have taken John more than 10 seconds to jump to his feet and fling the cluster of reddened boards across the room.

_***BANG!***_

"Oh God!" John screamed as the bullet tore through his shoulder.

"Father John?!"

"George?!" John looked over at the cellar entrance, and poking his head out was George, who also happened to be holding a small hand gun.

"John!"

Mo scrambled past George and lunged herself into John's arms.

"Mo…" John whispered her name, forgetting the pain in his shoulder.

"I told you not to come back for me", Mo said as tears started to run down her cheeks.

"I know", John smiled. "Can you forgive me, for disobeying you?"

"I'll think about it", Mo let out a little laugh as she spoke.

Slowly, she leaned out of his arms.

John looked at her face, and what her saw was the woman he loved, along with two deep scars; one on each cheek.

Gently, he raised his hand, and ran he fingers along both marks.

"You are still so beautiful to me", John sighed to her.

"I knew I would be", Mo smiled through her watery eyes.

"Father John", George came over to the couple, "I'm so sorry I shot you."

"It's okay George. It's okay", John said as he sat up from where he had fallen onto the floor.

"Girls! Girls, it really is John", Mosquito shouted down into the cellar, in Chinese, after she had peaked out of the cellar.

"How many?" John asked through the pain, as Mo and George started to care for his wound.

"Six, including George", Mo answered him.

"And the others?"

Mo only shook her head, her eyes cast down onto the floor.

"What happened?" John hesitated to ask.

"No", Mo replied. "We will not speak of it… we do not speak of it."

"George… what happened?" John asked while Mo and the girls were done in the cellar collecting their things.

"They sang for the soldiers, while I stood with them, pretending to sing", George began. "Then, Japanese started take them, pulling at them. Mo pushed me out way. I fall and hit my head, then nothing. I woke up under dead soldier. I not hurt. Mo saved me, I not know anything else. They not tell me, and I not ask… neither should you."

"You're right George. It's all over now, and we are going home."

"Where home?"

It took them a few days, but John, the five women, and George made it out of the city. Then, they made their way to the convent, where the girls were waiting.

"Father John! Father John!" All the girls ran to him when he abruptly interrupted their prayers.

"Hello girls", he cheerfully greeted them as he accepted their hugs. "I've brought you all something."

The girls looked up at him, and then saw that he was pointing toward the doors of the cathedral. There was Mo, and George, and Mosquito, and the four other women. The girls ran to them without reserve.

John talked it over with the nuns and priests and they agreed to allow George and the women to remain in the convent.

Mosquito and the four with her made the decision to take their vows and become nuns. They had had enough of the world and of men.

George helped John in the gardens and with repairs around the cathedral.

And Mo…

Mo decided to take her own vows, along with John.

They were married within the year and made themselves a little home just outside the cathedral walls. While John continued his work as the grounds keeper of the cathedral, Mo started a flower garden, and would sell her blooms to church parishioners.

Together she and John had sons and daughter… and a happy life; for they were with those they cherished… they were home.


End file.
